Travel+Leisure (Mar '15)
Four important reasons why Latvia's capital is the Belle of the Baltic and worthy of a visit.
The Hidden World of Male Geishas →
The Daily Beast (Feb '15)
Today, in Japan's roaring night trade, there are more male "hosts" in Tokyo's red light district than there are traditional female geishas in the entirety of Japan.
The Catskills Gets Its Groove Back →
The Daily Beast (Jan '15)
Forecasting the epic return of the region of forests and lakes just 100 miles north of New York City, which is quickly becoming the go-to getaway spot for overworked urbanites.
Inside Tokyo’s Owl Cafés →
New York Magazine (Jan '15)
During one of my many visits to Tokyo I was able to stop by Tokyo's coolest animal hangout to get an hour of quality time with these sleepy magical beasts.
Japanese Women Love Gay Anime →
The Daily Beast (Dec '14)
Turns out Japan's lucrative comic book industry has a strange little subset of fandom involving guy-on-guy fan fiction created exclusively for female readers.
Ebola's Threat to Wildlife →
The Daily Beast (Nov '14)
Although the Ebola pandemic was contained in West Africa, the entire continent saw a large drop in tourism numbers, crucial to fund its massive conservancy projects.
How Brooklyn Invaded Paris →
The Daily Beast (Oct '14)
Change afoot in City of Lights as a distinct Brooklyn vibe sweeps through the city--cool cafes and cocktail bars are now hiding behind the city's signature Hausmann walls.
Mexico's Mysterious Beach →
The Daily Beast (Oct '14)
A look at Mexico's Instagram-famous beach, hidden in a secret cove, and how the mysterious geological anomaly came to be.
The Ghost Hotels of the Catskills →
The Daily Beast (Aug '14)
In the 1960s there were over 500 large resorts in the Catskills, just 100 miles from New York City. Today, absolutely nothing remains of these fallen kingdoms.
Facial Tattoos: PNG's Tribal Rite →
The Daily Beast (Aug '14)
For the Tufians in Papua New Guinea, women's facial tattoos are considered beauty enhancement. It's an excruciating process that, in modernizing times, is quickly becoming a thing of the past.
The KGB's Secret Torture House →
The Daily Beast (Jun '17)
For decades, the Corner House stood as a silent reminder of Russian oppression. Now, the former KGB headquarters are open and exposing the horrors committed against the people of Riga.
The Amazon's Super-leaf →
The Daily Beast (Jun '14)
Discovered in the depths of the Amazon, guayusa is a type of holly that gives a jolt like a cup of coffee when brewed. And it's about to make a splash--so to speak--in the global market.
Rio's Real-Life Slumdog Millionaires →
The Daily Beast (Jun '14)
New crime-fighting projects have made Vidigal, one of the city's notorious favelas, a much safer place to visit, and as a result the price of real estate has suddenly risen through the roof.
Meet the Chef Making Sure Brazilians Will Never Be as Fat as Americans →
The Daily Beast (Jun '14)
Tsuyoshi Murakami is the owner and head chef of Kinoshita, one of Sao Paulo's finest Japanese restaurants, and he believes its Japan's major influence in southern Brazil that will keep his country thin as its middle class grows.
Do Michelin Stars Still Matter? →
The Daily Beast (May '14)
In 2003, Bernard Loiseau took his own life after succumbing to the pressures of maintaining his three-star rating. Now with the advent of user-generated reviews, are the stars still relevant?
The Museum of Mexico's Liberace →
The Daily Beast (Mar '14)
Robert Brady, a consummate bon vivant, Hollywood hobnobber, and kaftan enthusiast, lived a rather short, but very full life spending his inheritance creating one of the most beautifully curated collections of private art in the world.